Tyres Firm Issues Warning to Van Drivers

Van drivers should give some serious thought to fitting cold weather tyres to their vehicles as the UK gets to grips with the current icy weather conditions, according to a leading tyres manufacturer.

Continental tyres believe it’s more important than ever that van drivers and fleets are aware of the many safety benefits of fitting cold weather tyres to work vehicles.

Intensive studies undertaken by Continental have shown that a van’s braking distance when travelling at 30mph dramatically increases in icy conditions by up to 31%. The average distance a van will travel when braking on standard tyres versus cold weather tyres is an extra 13 metres while a passenger car or car-derived van will travel a further 8m – an increase of 23%.

Scott Benbow, product manager at Continental, said; “Every winter, we have problems on the road because drivers are poorly equipped to cope. Drivers in most European countries fit cold weather tyres from October to March. This allows them to have greater tyre performance when temperatures drop to below 7ºC – a common occurrence in winter months especially in early mornings and late evenings when most of us commute.”

At the very least van drivers and fleets should think about fitting cold weather tyres next winter, Mr Benbow said, in order to avoid the problems UK road uses faced this year.